Gauchos Host UC Davis on Senior Day

Sasha Gryaznov

Apr 10, 2014

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Gauchos (7-12; Big West 2-0) will close out the home portion of their schedule with an important conference match against UC Davis (13-8; Big West 2-1) at the Rec Cen Courts on Friday. The conference match at the Rec Cen Courts will also mark the final home match for the squad's only senior, Sasha Gryaznov.

Gryaznov has continued to improve during his time at UCSB, moving up in the lineup from the No. 6 slot to his current spot at the No. 3 position. Gryaznov was instrumental in the Gauchos' Big West Championship last season after recording key victories in the Gauchos' first and second round matches that sent the team to the title match.

The Gauchos hope to find themselves back in the championship match to defend their title and will need to secure a good seeding to put themselves in a good position to do so. The UCSB men remain undefeated in conference play and can clinch a top-3 seed with a victory against the Aggies.

In their latest match, the Gauchos dominated UC Riverside in a sweep to tie Hawaii at the top of the Big West standings. UC Santa Barbara swept doubles and won all of their singles matches en route to the 7-0 triumph. Freshman Teague Hamilton continued to impress as he extended his winning streak to three and the top of the lineup returned to their winning ways, including junior Tobias Galskov, who collected his team-leading 13th dual victory.

The Gauchos will welcome the Aggies, who have won eight of their last 10 matches and are the sole Big West squad to possess a winning overall record at 13-8. In their only conference loss, the UC Davis squad was defeated 4-3 by Hawaii in an exciting match that went on into the early hours of the morning due to inclement weather and numerous power outages. The Aggies bounced back in their latest match with a tight 4-3 victory at home against the Air Force.

The Aggies are led by freshmen Alec Adamson, who carries a 13-7 record playing primarily at the No. 1 position, and James Wade, who is riding a 10-match winning streak and has collected a team-leading 17-2 record playing at the No. 2-4 positions.

The Gauchos' regular season finale will be held at the Rec Cen Courts on Friday beginning at 1:30 PM.